"The subject of our painting is perfectionism. We chose this because many people in the Netherlands have difficulty accepting criticism. This can lead to a lot of pressure on yourself, for example because you want to be perfect for your friends, parents or in your sporting achievements. The pressure to present a perfect image of yourself on social media also plays an important role in this.
All these factors can cause people to often feel bad about themselves. Often, an ideal image arises in their minds, and that is exactly what we have tried to portray in our artwork.
The inspiration for our painting comes from the work The Secret Double by René Magritte. We chose to make one side of the painting completely perfect. On the other side, the depressive part can be seen: an empty boat floating on the water, symbolising loneliness. The boat floats in tears that are visible from the inside.
We also placed lions in the water, which represent the strength to keep yourself strong and control your sadness. We chose these objects because René Magritte often painted everyday objects in unexpected places. This makes his work mysterious and makes people think. For example, we placed palm trees in the water instead of on land.
On the perfect side of the painting, you see someone smiling and radiating positivity, but at the same time, broken pieces are also visible. This symbolises that this person is broken on the inside.
Our work is inspired by René Magritte, a Belgian surrealist painter. His work often lacked a clear message, but was mainly mysterious. He painted everyday objects in places where they did not belong, which made people think about his art.
As for our own experience with perfectionism, we notice that everyone always wants to appear perfect, especially in sports. This often happens because we don't want to disappoint anyone, for example our parents, and because we feel the pressure to perform well."
